2017 ARIA Awards Nominations

ARIA have announced nominees in all categories for the upcoming 2017 ARIA Awards at a special event held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on 10th October.

Highlights of the ceremony included 1997 ARIA Hall of Fame inductee, Paul Kelly winning two Artisan ARIA Awards for Engineer Of The Year and Best Cover Art, along with receiving seven nominations. His album “Life Is Fine” debuted at #1 on the ARIA charts, and has held its spot in the Top 10 for the last seven weeks. Currently on tour in the US and Europe, “Life Is Fine” marks his first #1 ARIA album, after releasing 23 studio albums and a 40-year career in Australian music.

It was also an exciting day for Sydney five-piece Gang Of Youths leading the day with eight nominations, categories including Apple Music Album Of The Year, Best Group, Best Rock Album, Best Video, Best Australian Live Act, Producer Of The Year, Engineer Of The Year and Best Cover Art. Acknowledging their critically acclaimed #1 ARIA album “Go Farther In Lightness”, the 16 track odyssey was named triple j’s feature album and saw the band tour nationally to sold-out audiences, along with receiving rave reviews from fans and media alike.

Other widely recognised nominations were celebrated for Australian hip hop pair, A.B Original, nominated for six nominations. Respectively coming from the Yorta Yorta and Ngarrindjeri tribes, the duo made up of Briggs and ARIA award-winning producer Trials have been bringing attention to issues closer to home. 2016’s “Reclaim Australia” saw the duo win the 12th Australian Music Prize and the album’s lead single ‘January 26’ reach #16 on triple j’s Hottest 100.

Currently on tour in the US, Gold Coast’s Amy Shark was one of the emerging artists who burst into the Australian music scene over the past twelve months and has been recognised for her works with six nominations. 2017’s “Night Thinker” EP peaked at #2 on the ARIA charts, and single ‘Adore’ placed #2 on triple j’s Hottest 100 and peaked at #3 on the ARIA Singles Chart.

Melbourne’s ARIA Award winner Illy has accumulated six nominations for this year’s ARIA Awards. Nominated for Apple Music Album Of The Year and Best Urban Album, “TwoDegrees” debuted at #1 on the ARIA Chart, with single ‘Papercuts (feat. Vera Blue)’ hitting 4x platinum status. The track also came in at #7 in triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2016.

Also securing six nominations, this is ARIA Award winner JessicaMauboy’s seventh consecutive year of ARIA nominations. Making ARIA Chart history with her latest release, she became the first Indigenous woman to debut and achieve three consecutive weeks at #1. Reaching platinum status, the album also became Mauboy’s first individual #1 album on the ARIA Chart.

ARIA also welcomed Apple Music to the 2017 ARIA Awards which includes the return of two of the event’s most highly-anticipated categories, Apple Music Song Of The Year and Apple Music Album Of The Year. Fans will have the power to determine the winner of the coveted Song of the Year award by casting their vote and will now also be able to access songs, albums and specially curated playlists that celebrate the 2017 ARIA Award nominees on Apple Music.

Classical guitar virtuoso, SlavaGrigoryan took out the title in the Best Classical Album category for “Bach: Cello Suites Volume I.” This marks Grigoryan’s 14th ARIA nomination, either on his own or as a member of the GrigoryanBrothers or shared with other artists, and follows up from his win for Best Classical Album for “Sonatas & Fantasies” in 2002.

Best World Music Album was granted to Australian singer and songwriter Katie Noonan and classical guitarist Karin Schaupp for their collaborative efforts on “Songs of the Latin Skies”. This is the third time the duo have collaborated, following “Songs from the British Isles” in 2011 and the 2012 ARIA-nominated album “Songs of the Southern Skies.”

The late John Clarke has posthumously been awarded the 2017 ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release for “Clarke’s Classics”. Clarke’s renowned satirical wit and comic brilliance has previously won him ARIA Awards for “Great Interviews of the 20th Century” in the Best Australian Comedy category in 1991, and for “The Annual Report” in the same category in 1992.

Nominated twice for Best Jazz Album was multi-instrumentalist James Morrison. It was the release “The Great American Songbook” that received the ARIA award, after debuting at #2 on the ARIA Jazz & Blues Albums Chart. This win follows up from his first ARIA Award in 2010.

The 2016 ARIA Awards saw a 31% increase in TV ratings and delivered its biggest audience since 2010. It was the #1 show for 25-54s and under 55 year-olds on the night, and achieved the most social #ARIAs ever, generating over 585 million Twitter impressions around the world.

This year’s ARIAs will showcase exciting, diverse, and eclectic performers delivering magic moments and collaborations. The line-up will be featuring Apple Music Album Of The Year nominees Gang Of Youths and A.B. Original, Best Female Artist nominee Jessica Mauboy and Apple Music Song Of The Year nominees PekingDuk and Pnau.

The 2017 ARIA Awards with Apple Music will be taking place on November 28th at The Star Event Centre, Sydney.